A mesh network may include a plurality of nodes, many of which may include software producing data for transmission. Many of the nodes may also have associated devices, including sensors, meters, etc., which may gather data. Collectively, the nodes may generate a considerable amount of data to be sent upstream to a root node for transmission to a central office.
Existing networks and systems create bottle necks at certain upstream nodes, resulting in transmission delays and quality of service issues. A second problem of existing systems involves fair and effective division of the available bandwidth between nodes in the network and software running on those nodes.